Fruits are harvested when the finger of the firsthand of the bunch shows sign of ripening or yellowing or when the finger tips turn black. For local market fruits are often harvested when fingers are full or rounded. Usually, colored ribbons are used to provide information regarding bunch weight. Fruit diameter and fruit length may be used as criteria to determine when to harvest.
Postharvest losses are common if harvested fruit is not stored and transported at opti-mum temperature conditions. Banana is a perishable fruit and its postharvest losses range from 25-50%. This loss occurs during transporting and marketing due to adverse physiological changes (loss of weight due to increased respiration and transpiration), softening of flesh and lack of resistance capacity against microbial attack.
Bananas are highly perishable fruits. Extended storage of bananas can be obtained when ripening is not induced by a large ethylene exposure (exogenous or endogenous). Shelf life can be extended by applying inhibitors that limit respiration and/or ethylene production or by using modified atmosphere packaging (MAP).
This gas treatment is known to provide uniformly ripened fruit within few days. Fruit peel color and firmness are commonly used indexes of banana marketability
Prolongation of shelf life may be achieved by several methods. Researches suggested that the ripening of banana is delayed when stored in sealed polythene cover and the minimal fruit losses were recorded in sealed polythene along with KMnO4. Proper harvesting is also important. Bananas should be harvested at appropriate stage of maturity for transport, handling and storage.
The fruits are graded based on maturity index. Seven distinct visual color stages have been distinguished as banana fruit ripens where the peel color changes from dark green(stage 1) to yellow (stage 5) followed by the appearance of dark brown spots (stage 7) when about 20% of the fruit surface is covered with brown spots and fruit is considered unmarketable.
First grade bananas are packed into cardboard cartoons as whole hands, clusters or singles. The maximum weight of each cartoon should not exceed 12kg. the cartoon is lined with polyethylene of about 0.04mm. For exports, bananas are removed from the stem and hands and clusters of the bananas are packed in corrugated boxes.
The use of appropriate packaging to reduce damage is important and cushioning is used occasionally, especially when bananas are sold at high-end markets. Banana shipping containers should preferably be stackable to avoid compression force, which can induce bruising and soften fruit texture.
Postharvest banana
